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DEADHOUSE Tales of Sydney Morgue

YOUR GUIDE REVEALS THE SHOCKING TRUTH!

Immerse yourself in some classic Australian true crime as you’re guided through an 1850s sandstone building not far from the old Deadhouse’ in Sydney Morgue and Coroner's Court in The Rocks. The first DEADHOUSE season takes you back in time to watch two of these notorious cases play out.

You will move around the courtyard and all three floors of this historic building and experience scenes depicting the back stories of these famous crimes.

Background: Before 1972 the Sydney Coroner’s Court and Morgue was in lower George Street. The morgue was known as the Deadhouse. The Bone Room downstairs held boxes full of human bones from unsolved cases. Some of this building still remains.

DINNER DEAL @ Harbour View Hotel 18 Lower Fort Street The Rocks (just 300 metres away). 4 stars on Trip Advisor. Dine before or after your show. Book 02 9252 4111. Simply show your ticket and a portion of every dollar you spend comes back to support DEADHOUSE.

1. The Leonard Lawson Case (1954-72) ‘Portrait of the Artist as a Murderer’ by Robert Armstrong

Lennie was a modern Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Born in Manly in 1927, where his father was the local butcher, Lennie was a successful comic-book artist and photographer before he descended into a frenzy of violent crime. By the age of 16, due to an embargo on US comic books, Lennie had created the characters of the Lone Avenger and Diana Queen of the Apes and was widely published. By the age of 26 he lead a comfortable life in Manly with wife Betty and three small children. After an interview as a photographer with June Dally Watkins, leading model and deportment school owner, Lennie transported five of her teenage models into bushland in Terry Hills where he sexually assaulted four at gunpoint. Lawson was caught, found guilty and sentenced to hang. But the sentence was commuted to fourteen years, then later reduced to seven for ‘good behaviour’.

The newly released Lawson used his artistic persona to lure new victims. In November 1962, while painting a portrait of 16-year-old Jane Bower, Lawson knocked her unconscious with a sock full of wet sand, sexually assaulted and fatally stabbed her with a hunting knife. The next day he toted a Remington semi-automatic rifle into the Sydney Church of England Girls’ Grammar School (SCEGGS) chapel in Moss Vale, the town where his parents now lived, and held a group of 200 teachers and students hostage. A struggle ensued and one girl was fatally shot and the headmistress injured. Lennie was gaoled for life.

But prison didn't tame Lawson. Ten years into his sentence, as President of the Robin Hood Arts Society, he arranged a dance performance for his fellow inmates. Lawson jumped on stage and threatened one of the dancers with a make shift knife. She was released unharmed, but was so traumatised she later committed suicide.

Lawson spent 47 of his last 48 years in prison. He died in 2003. Several of his religious paintings still hang in Grafton Gaol.

You'll experience the light and dark sides of Lennie Lawson and depictions of this horrendous crimes.

Louisa Collins was born near Scone in NSW. In 1865 she married the older, dependable Charles Andrews who moved his growing family to the swampy Sydney suburb of Botany in the early 1880s. He became a wool washer, a job that used chemicals such as arsenic. The family also took in lodgers like the handsome young Michael Collins.

In 1886 when Andrews discovered that Collins and Louisa were lovers he evicted all the boarders.A month later he started getting terrible stomach pains. Louisa briskly organised his will and when Andrews died two days later she went straight into town to claim the money.Two months later she married Michael Collins. But they didn't prosper. In fact, Collins gambled away most of Louisa’s inheritance. In June 1888 he suffered the same mysterious, gut-wrenching symptoms as Andrews.

Suspicion fell on Louisa even before Collins died. When arsenic was found in his body Louisa was arrested and Charles Andrews was exhumed. The tiny particle of arsenic the doctors found was enough. The police charged Louisa with two murders.

The Collins case captured the public imagination. People packed the courthouse to watch the ‘Botany Borgia’ murder trials. Not one trial, but four. Louisa’s eventual death sentence sparked public satisfaction and public outrage.

‘A Poison Crown’ transports you to 19th-century Sydney and brings to life the characters who fought for and against Louisa’s appointment with the gallows.

ADULT THEMES: Depictions of violence and death together with semi-nudity. A nurse will be present to assist any distressed patrons. Recommended for patrons 16+

ACCESS: This venue consists of a back courtyard and three floors, with narrow staircases connecting each. Access may be difficult for some. Email us to check if you're uncertain of your ability to move through this venue.

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Why we’re creating DEADHOUSE Tales of Sydney Morgue

Creating immersive theatre with a connection to place and Australian history has been an objective of mine since I staged We Are The Ghosts Of The Future in The Rocks Discovery Museum in 2015.

I’ve trained as a theatre maker, historian, tour-guide and event producer and this is my dream work. Combining innovative immersive theatre with true Australian stories in a historic setting.

My flash of revelation for this production was the connection with the old Sydney Morgue, which had been located quite close to the building that is now The Rocks Discovery Museum. For 120 years, scores of notorious cases passed through the Sydney Morgue and Coroners Court. These cases were loaded with high drama and potent content. This is the theatre I want to create.

We chose four cases and four writers to dramatise these tales of our city’s gritty past. These will feature in DEADHOUSE Tales of Sydney Morgue Seasons One and Two. Season One features:

The Leonard Lawson Case – Portrait of an Artist as a Criminal

Robert Armstrong chose the story of psychopath Leonard Lawson Case because of his fascination with the mysterious and malevolent Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Lennie was a charming artist on the outside and an unbridled monster on the inside. Lawson has contemporary resonance when the #metoo movement has emerged to challenge sexual harassment and violence by men against women. The seductive manipulation exerted by Lennie over his chosen victims is a warning to be vigilant against men, or women, driven by their inner demons and devoid of empathy or fear. We must fight back again the horror of these predators. Jean Turnbull and her girls at SCEGGS Moss Vale did in 1962 and physically overcame the monster that was Leonard Lawson. He was gaoled for 46 more years. Jean was awarded an MBE for her bravery.

The Louisa Collins Case – A Poisoner Crown

Gina Schien was drawn to the tragedy of Louisa Collins, a working-class mother who may have been innocent of the murder charges against her. Like Lindy Chamberlain, Louisa did not display adequate public bereavement and contrition over the deaths of her two husbands. In the patriarchal society that was Sydney in 1888, a woman who was not subservient was cursed. Many men feared the Suffragettes as they marched the streets demanding equal rights and the vote. An all-male legal system of judges, barristers and juries tried Louisa four times in the Courthouse in Taylor Square, until she was finally found guilty by an all-male jury. She was sentenced to death and speedily executed in Darlinghurst Gaol. Louisa never had a chance.

Please immerse yourself and be excited and saddened by these historic tales.